Process of concentrating liquids



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.. I J. W. DIXON.

PROCESS OF UONGENTRATING LIQUIDS.

(N0 Mqdel.)

No. 391,459. Patented Oct. 23. 1888.

NIH

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W. DIXON.

PROCESS OF GONGENTR-ATING LIQUIDS. No. 391,459. Patented 001:8 23, 1888.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

J. W. DIXON. PROCESS OF OONGENTRATING LIQUIDS. No. 391,459. Patented Oct. 23, 1888.

8 S Q5 i N N i N N Q ML vvuewtoz witmooeo 6? a &) w %fiqw, 7% W if (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

' J. W. DIXON; I

PROCESS OF OONGENTR-ATING LIQUIDS.

N0. 391,459. Patented Oct. 23, 1888.

June/144608,

wi/tmaemw,

N. PETERS. Mkrthognphor. WalhlnglO L D C.

UNITED STATES JOHN W. DIXON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PRGCESS OF CONCENTRATBNG LlQUlDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,459, dated October 23, 1888.

Application filed April ll, 1888. Serial No. 270,252. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN XV. DIXON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Concentrating Liquids, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part hereof, and which illustrate an apparatus in which my process may be worked.

The nature of my invention willfully appear 7 from the following specification and claims.

fice for all three.

It has for its object the concentration of liquidsin recovering from them matters held in solution therein, such as recovering the soda held in solution in the waste liquors resulting from the process of reducing wood to paperpulp. It can be employed for reducing liquids of any description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my device, showing a series of three cylinders connected by pipes. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3, a side elevation; Fig. 4.,a longitudinal vertical sectional view of one of the cylinders with its immediate connections, other parts being shown in the background.

A B O are three closed cylinders, each successive cylinder being located slightly lower than its predecessor, A being the highest and O the lowest; 1), a nest of pipes with which each cylinder is provided. A description of the internal structure in one cylinder will suf- This nest of pipes D is set from end to end in the true heads D D of the cylinder, (see Fig. 4,) leaving a vapor-space, E, above them. A supplemental partial head, F F, is set on each end of each cylinder,closing against the true head immediately above the points at which the pipes D pass through the true heads of the cylinder. These supplemental heads thus form spaces F F between the ends of pipes D and the heads F F.

Gr is a conduit or pipe leading from the front lower part of cylinder A to the front lower part of cylinder B. G is a similar pipe from the rear lower part of cylinder B to the rear lower part of cylinder 0. These pipes G and G communicate with the interior of the respective cylindersinside the true heads thereof and convey the liquor under treatment from one cylinder to the next in the series. The cylinder shown in sectional view in Fig. 4 is cylinder 0.

H is a pipe passing from the front lower interior liquor-space of cylinder 0 to carry the reduced liquor off.

H is a small suction-pump on pipe 11 to draw the reduced liquor through pipe H.

I is a pipe for supplying the liquor to the back rear interior liquor-space of cylinder A. It enters through the lower shell of this cylinder. This pipe is provided with a regulatingvalve, 1, to control the flow of liquor.

I is a liquor-snpply pipe entering the upper part or the head of a small open receptacle, I. (See Fig. 3 and dotted lines, Fig. 1.)

The pipe 1 passes from the lower part of receptacle 1, carrying the liquor to cylinder A, as mentioned above. The object of this open receptacle is to enable the operator to regulate the feed ofliquor or the flow from the main tank orreservoir. (Notshown) Pipe Icommunicates with the lower part of this tank.

1 is a float with a lever-arm attached at one end to a valve on pipe I. As the float rises 7- through an excess of liquor in receptacle 1 the lever-arm closes said valve and lessens or shuts off the flow of liquor from the tank, and as the liquor in the receptacle falls the float falls with it, opens said valve, and. permits an additional supply of liquor. WVhen valve I is regulated to permit only the requisite flow to cylinder A, this float is set to maintain a supply equal to the flow. The float is an or-- dinary device well known to mechanics, and 8 requires no special description. It is outlined in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

J J is a steam-pipe set along the rear ends of the cylinders, and communicating with each one through supplemental heads F into the 0 space between the rear true and supplemental heads of the cylinders. I

J J J are steam-regulating valves.

J is a steam-pipe connecting heads F F of cylinders B G, to carry steam from one cylin- 5 der to the other.

K is a glass indicator to show the height of liquor in the cylinder 0.

L L L are vacuum-gages to indicate the vacuum in columns or upright chambers M M M I00 and in the cylinders. These chambers open below through the upper parts of the shells of cylinders A B G into the vapor-spaces above the level of the liquor therein, and are themselves vapor-chambers.

N is a long pipe set transversely of the series ofcyli nders, and connects by short branch pipes N N N with the upper interiors of the chambers M M M, respectively. Pipe N is closed at both ends, and a pipe, 0, leads from it to the condenser P, which latter is of the ordinary well-known form.

P is a suction-pump, upon which the condenser is set and which draws the vapors from all the cylinders, taking off the atmospheric pressure and producing a vacuum therein.

Q, Figs. 3 and 4., are drip cocks to carry off the condensation of steam.

The operation is as follows: The valve 1 is opened and the liquor in receptacle 1 is allowed to flow through pipe I to the cylinder A, whence it enters cylinder B through pipe G, and flows to cylinder 0 through pipe G. These cylinders are thus gradually supplied with liquor rising up therein. The vacuumpump I is then started to produce the necessary vacuum in chambers M M M-say a vacuum of twenty to twenty-eight inchesthis vacuum being the same in the cylinders. When the liquor gets to the height of the nest of pipes in cylinder 0, it will be shown in the indicator K. The level will then be relatively about the same in the other two cylinders. In cylinder A it will be higher, and of an intermediate but relatively the same height in cylinder 13. It will be higher at A, because it is highly heated and is lighter, being at the boiling-point as it comes from the tank, and the vacuum will cause ebullition and a rising up of the mass of liquor. It will be slightly lower in cylinder B, because theliquor will have lost part of its heat and will be heavier through partial concentration, and it will be at the point before named in cylinder 0. The steam-valves J J are then opened and valve J is allowed to remain closed. The steam will then fill all the end steam-spaces in the cylinders B O and the interiors of the pipes or tubes forming the nests of closed pipes. The steam-valves J J are then opened and valve Jis allowed to remain closed. The steam will then fill all the end steam-spaces in the cylinders B O and the interiors of the pipes or tubes forming the nests of pipes. The pump H is then started to draw off the concentrated or reduced liquor, and the valve 1 is regulated to supply the cylinders with liquor and keep the latter at the desired level, just covering the pipes D, regard being had to the evaporation and the quantity drawn out by pump H. The vapors will be drawn off through the pipes N O to the condenser P by the vacuum-pump P. If, as is designed, the liquor enters cylinder A at or near the boiling-point,suffieient evaporation will take place therein without supplementary steam heat; but if the liquor at its introduction is of a low temperature the valve J may be opened to heat the end spaces and tubes of cylinder A to bring liquor up to the requisite temperature. The vacuum produced in the cylinders and in chambers M permits the liquor to evaporate at a very low temperature,depending upon the vacuum maintained. One great advantage of treating the liquor under a low temperature, which the vacuum enables me to do, is that in the ease of alkaline liquors mixed with vegetable matter the excessive foaming resulting from treating it under a high heat is avoided. The vacuum is ascertained by the gages L and by a gage (not shown) 011 the pump 1?. As the vapor-pipe N connects equally with each chamber M, the vacuum produced will be uniform throughout all the chambers and cylinders. About an equal steam heat in the tubes and end spaces of the cylinders is preserved by the connections of pipe J with the steamspaces in each cylinder. The steam will be condensed by the time it passes from its point of introduction through nests of pipes in the cylinder, and the condensation will be carried off by the cooks Q, or by pipes in place of said cocks, leading to the steam-boiler, a pump being employed to force it into the latter against the boiler-pressure. The economy is greater as the vacuum is increased, because the boiling-point of the liquor is lower as the.

vacuum is increased. 7

I prefer a nest of pipes or tubes, D, as shown, to a coil of pipe, because in the same space I thus obtain a greater heating-surface than with a coil, and a smaller quantity of liquor is brought into contact with a greater heating-surface; but the difference between a nest and a coil of pipes is simply one of degree of heating properties, and I wish it to be understood that the term nest includes the term coil both in my description and claim.

It will be noted that any series of pipes N N 0 forms practically one pipe from the interior vapor-space to the vacuum-producer, and that the chambers M are mere enlargements of the vapor-spaces above the liquor-level.

My plan ofpassing the steam in tubes through the mass of liquor being treated avoids the clogging of the tubes, for when the liquor is passed through the tubes and heated from without it deposits therein and eventually clogs up the tubular passages. The evaporation of the liquor to dryness in its passage through the tubes, and its consequent deposit therein, necessitates the removal and renewing of these tubes. This is so generally known that in many apparatuses the tubes are so set as to be readily removed for cleansing or renewal.

For alkalies my apparatus is constructed of iron and steel; but for other purposessueh as the treatment of tannic acid or gluethe apparatus is constructed of copper.

In the device above described the vacuumpump is a vacuum-producing and condensing apparatus, and the pump H is a suction apparatus, and is designed to draw the concentrated liquor out and to exert a suctional force sufficient to overcome the resistance caused by the vacuum-producing apparatus.

\V hat I claim as new is 1. The process of conoentratingliquor which consists in passing it through a cylinder, heating the liquor during its said passage by means of an interior nest or coil of closed pipes through which a heating agent is passed, preserving a vapor-space between the upper sur face of the liquor and the upper interior of the cylinder, exhausting the air and vapor from said vaporspace by means of a vacuum-producer, and drawing the liquor from the apparatus by means of a suction apparatus, substantially as described.

JOHN WV. DIXON.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CARSON, HENRY V. BUCKLEY. 

